Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace, No longer confined by coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense, the Los Angeles Lakers are starting from square one. Mike Brown, who led the Cleveland Cavaliers to 127 regular-season wins in his last two seasons before being fired in 2010, was hired to replace Jackson, who retired in the offseason, and devise a more attractive brand of basketball for Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

The triple-post offense gives way to a scheme that spreads the floor and the ball beyond leading scorers Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The Lakers are reconfiguring without versatile 6-10 forward Lamar Odom, who was traded to the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. And Brown has moved Metta World Peace out of the starting lineup.

World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, will slide into Odom’s role as the top reserve. He started all 82 games in 2010-11 and all 77 games he played in 2009-10, when the Lakers won a second consecutive NBA title.

Brown instead will start Matt Barnes or Devin Ebanks, both more fluid and skilled players. World Peace, at 6-7, 260 pounds, will be used more in post-up situations to take advantage of his strength.

He played in the post more often with the Indiana Pacers from 2001 to 2005. Brown was an assistant coach there for two of those years.